We use cookies on our website. If you continue to browse our website without taking any action, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies from our website.Read MoreDismiss

Financial Express (Holdings) Limited (“we”, “our”, “us” and derivatives) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy, together with our Terms of Use, sets out the basis on which any personal data that we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us relating to your use of any of the below websites (“sites”).

FEAnalytics.com

FEInvest.net

FETransmission.com

Investegate.co.uk

Trustnet.hk

Trustnetoffshore.com

Trustnetmiddleeast.com

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the data controller is Trustnet Limited of 2nd Floor, Golden House, 30 Great Pulteney Street, London, W1F 9NN. Our nominated representative for the purpose of this Act is Kirsty Witter.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU?

We collect information about you when you register with us or use any of our websites / services. Part of the registration process may include entering personal details & details of your investments.

We may collect information about your computer, including where available your operating system, browser version, domain name and IP address and details of the website that you came from, in order to improve this site.

You confirm that all information you supply is accurate.

COOKIES

In order to provide personalised services to and analyse site traffic, we may use a cookie file which is stored on your browser or the hard drive of your computer. Some of the cookies we use are essential for the sites to operate and may be used to deliver you different content, depending on the type of investor you are.

You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or part of our sites. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon as you visit our sites.

HOW WE USE INFORMATION

We store and use information you provide as follows:

to present content effectively;

to provide you with information, products or services that you request from us or which may interest you, tailored to your specific interests, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes;

to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts between you and us;

to enable you to participate in interactive features of our service, when you choose to do so;

to notify you about changes to our service;

to improve our content by tracking group information that describes the habits, usage, patterns and demographics of our customers.

We may also send you emails to provide information and keep you up to date with developments on our sites. It is our policy to have instructions on how to unsubscribe so that you will not receive any future e-mails. You can change your e-mail address at any time.

In order to provide support on the usage of our tools, our support team need access to all information provided in relation to the tool.

We will not disclose your name, email address or postal address or any data that could identify you to any third party without first receiving your permission.

However, you agree that we may disclose to any regulatory authority to which we are subject and to any investment exchange on which we may deal or to its related clearing house (or to investigators, inspectors or agents appointed by them), or to any person empowered to require such information by or under any legal enactment, any information they may request or require relating to you, or if relevant, any of your clients.

You agree that we may pass on information obtained under Money Laundering legislation as we consider necessary to comply with reporting requirements under such legislation.

ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION AND CORRECTION

We want to ensure that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. You may ask us to correct or remove information that is inaccurate.

You have the right under data protection legislation to access information held about you. If you wish to receive a copy of any personal information we hold, please write to us at 3rd Floor, Hollywood House, Church Street East, Woking, GU21 6HJ. Any access request may be subject to a fee of £10 to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you.

WHERE WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”). It may be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our suppliers. Such staff may be engaged in, amongst other things, the provision of support services. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing and processing. We will take all steps reasonably necessary, including the use of encryption, to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our sites; any transmission is at your own risk. You will not hold us responsible for any breach of security unless we have been negligent or in wilful default.

CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

Any changes we make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.

OTHER WEBSITES

Our sites contain links to other websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

CONTACT

If you want more information or have any questions or comments relating to our privacy policy please email publishing@financialexpress.net in the first instance.

Thursday 13 March, 2014

Home Retail Grp Plc

End of Year Trading Statement

Home Retail Group, the UK's leading home and general merchandise retailer, announces details of the final eight-week trading period for the financial year ended 1 March 2014.

Terry Duddy, Chief Executive of Home Retail Group, commented:

"The positive sales performance in the last few weeks of our financial year concludes a good year for both Argos and Homebase, with both businesses having delivered like-for-like sales growth throughout the year. As a result of this recent trading performance, we now expect Group benchmark profit before tax to be slightly ahead of the top end of the current range of market expectations of £107m to £111m. The cash outflow for the year will also be slightly better than previous guidance, resulting in a closing net cash position of around £330m.

"We have made good progress with the investment plans in both businesses during the current financial year and we have a clear agenda for growth. However, although there are signs that economic conditions may be beginning to improve, we will continue to plan for a subdued consumer environment.

"It has been a very exciting time leading the Group over the last 15 years. Digital technology, together with changes in consumer behaviour, have fundamentally changed the face of retailing in recent times, and both Argos and Homebase have well defined plans and strong management teams in place to be leaders in both digital trends and changes in the way people shop. I would like to thank our 50,000 colleagues for their huge commitment and support."

Latest period

(8 weeks to
1 March 2014)

H2

(26 weeks to
1 March 2014)

Full year

(52 weeks to
1 March 2014)

Argos

Sales

£526m

£2,334m

£4,051m

Like-for-like sales change

5.2%

4.1%

3.3%

Net space sales change

0.0%

(0.1%)

(0.3%)

Total sales change

5.2%

4.0%

3.0%

Gross margin movement

c.0bps

Down c.50bps

Down c.50bps

Homebase

Sales

£203m

£667m

£1,489m

Like-for-like sales change

9.3%

5.9%

5.9%

Net space sales change

(2.4%)

(2.3%)

(1.8%)

Total sales change

6.9%

3.6%

4.1%

Gross margin movement

Down c.75bps

Down c.75bps

Down c.100bps

Argos

Total sales at Argos grew by 5.2% to £526m. Net closed space had no material impact on sales in the period; four stores closed in the period resulting in a net reduction in the store portfolio of 3 stores in the current financial year to 734.

Like-for-like sales increased by 5.2% in the period. Electrical products continued to deliver a positive sales performance, principally as a result of sales growth in video gaming, TVs, small domestic appliances and white goods. Sales across the remaining product categories were broadly flat year on year with the exception of jewellery which experienced a small decline.

Internet sales for the full-year represented 44% of total Argos sales, up from 42% for the same period last year. Within this, mobile commerce sales grew by 89% to represent 18% of total Argos sales.

There was no change to the gross margin rate compared to the same period last year, with the continued adverse sales mix impact and the anticipated impact of adverse currency and shipping costs being offset by a number of small positive items.

Homebase

Total sales at Homebase grew by 6.9% to £203m. Net closed space reduced sales by 2.4% in the period; there were no further store closures in the period, resulting in a reduction in the store portfolio of 13 stores in the current financial year to 323.

Like-for-like sales increased by 9.3% in the period driven by further growth in big ticket sales as well as growth across the remaining product categories.

The approximate 75 basis point gross margin decline was driven principally by the sales mix impact from the growth in big ticket products.

Exceptional Items

Payment Protection Insurance

The Group's Financial Services division has historically offered Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) to its customers. In response to an industry wide review by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a full investigation has been undertaken with the support of an independent expert, which will result in a customer redress exercise being carried out. As a result, we expect to increase the existing provision by c.£25m. This charge will be recognised in the current financial year and it will be taken as an exceptional item, outside of benchmark profit.

Warranty Insurance

Until June 2010 Allianz Insurance provided Home Retail Group an underwriting service for warranty products sold in both Argos and Homebase. Allianz Insurance has recently notified Home Retail Group that under a profit share arrangement relating to the run off of these historical policies, the Group is due c.£11m. This credit will be recognised in the current financial year and it will be taken as an exceptional item, outside of benchmark profit.

Other

Employee Share Trust share purchase

A cash payment of £15.5m was made to the Home Retail Group Employee Share Trust during the period to fund the purchase of 8.4m shares. The shares are in addition to those already held by the Trust and are needed to satisfy obligations arising from employee share schemes, the majority of which relate to the save-as-you-earn plans offered to the Group's c.50,000 colleagues. A cumulative payment of £37.4m to fund the purchase of 22.5m shares has been made in the current financial year.

No other material events, transactions or impacts on the Group's financial position have taken place since the previously announced 31 August 2013 balance sheet date.

Enquiries

Analysts and investors (Home Retail Group)

Richard Ashton Finance Director 01908 600 291

Mark Willis Director of Investor Relations

Media (RLM Finsbury)

Rollo Head 020 7251 3801

There will be a conference call for analysts and investors to discuss this statement at 8.30am this morning. The call can be listened to live on the Home Retail Group website www.homeretailgroup.com. An indexed replay will also be available on the website later in the day.

Home Retail Group will announce its full-year results on Wednesday 30 April 2014.

Information in this announcement is based upon unaudited management accounts. In addition, certain statements made are forward looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from any expected future events or results referred to in these forward looking statements.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

TSTGGUCGWUPCGBP

*All intraday prices are subject to a delay of fifteen (15) minutes.

FE Investegate takes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information within
this site.

The announcements are supplied by the denoted source. Queries about the content
of an announcement should be directed to the source. FE Investegate reserves the
right to publish a filtered set of announcements. NAV, EMM/EPT, Rule 8 and FRN Variable
Rate Fix announcements are filtered from this site.

To continue using FE Investegate, please confirm that you are a private investor.

I am a private investor *I am not a private investor

*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
1. Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
2. Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
3. Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
4. Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
5. Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
6. Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.

To continue to use FE Investegate, please confirm you are a private investor

This website is only for private investors. By using this site, you agree to use the content for private use only.

Please confirm that you are a private investor using the buttons below.